Comfort
by oneforfall
Summary: "God knows what punishment lies in these arms that hold me." A philanderer & a lover. These two hearts cannot help but call out to each other. But, what consequences await for hearts that tugged at each other's heartstrings just to find the thing their hearts call comfort?
1. An intro to nothing

_**Title:**__ Comfort, (Come Forth)  
__**Fandom:**__ Kuroshitshuji  
__**Disclaimer: **__**Kuroshitsuji **__is under the copyright of Yana Toboso. I __**do not own**__ the characters. The situation set in the story is a work of fiction._

_**Pairing:**__ Deidrich x Vincent  
__**Warning:**__ AU, OOC, Theme, Language, Lemon  
__**AN: **__  
It's been so long since I wrote something! I don't care what Diedrich looks like now! He's still the sandwich-loving, tsun tsun officer that I've always liked! That's true love, people! Plus, I've been DYING to write for this pair __of idiots! __Please give me feedback :D!_

_**Comfort, Come Forth**_**  
(**by oneforfall**)**

"_You know I'm never going to feel the same. You're only forcing onto me something distasteful, Vincent._"

_The two teens in the school alleyway are enveloped in silence. Vincent doesn't say a word. Neither does Diedrich. _

_All the words they want to say light a fire in their eyes. The intense stare off ends when Vincent says with a smile _"_I know._" _He leans closer till their noses practically touched. "But don't you also feel the same way, Diedrich?"_

_Diedrich tries to move back, but sadly forgets there's no space left to move back to. HE doesn't dare back out from his stare though the dark joy in Vincent's eyes send him a chill down his spine. "Don't tell me you can't feel it just as much as I can, my fag?" Vincent murmurs. Their noses touched. Their breaths mixed. He grinds their hips together, making Diedrich bite back a moan._

_Diedrich locks eyes with Vincent. "You're disgusting."  
Vincent snorts then snickers sweetly. "Doesn't it make you one as well if you start feeling it too?" At the drop of Vincent's words, Diedrich sets on to glare at him. "And what would I feel the same way as __**you**__ do?"_

_Vincent's smile disappears. He looks into Diedrich's eyes and sees spite flickering in them like a flame. Vincent looks at Diedrich's parted lips, at the marks that bloom on his exposed neck and chest and the sheen of sweat that glazes his skin._

_Diedrich feels his eye twitch when he sees Vincent's smile stretch from ear to ear. "There's no use denying what you're feeling already." Diedrich jolts when Vincent cups the bulge in Diedrich pants. "Especially down here." A tap on his bulge makes Diedrich shiver._

_Vincent gazes into his eyes until they bore on to him. "Don't tell me you don't like it, Diedrich?" Vincent's hands skim the fabric of Diedrich's undone dress shirt and move down to graze the bulge jolting at his touch. Diedrich's breath comes out in hitches. "You're doing it on purpose, Vincent." You can hear him spitting out the words to Vincent's face already._

_Vincent leans closer towards Diedrich and breathes out a shaky moan on his ears. "Then don't look so hungry for it, Diedrich." He flicks out his tongue. "You make me want to tease you till you beg for it." Vincent licks the shell of his ear and nips at the lobe, making Diedrich flinch._

_Diedrich pushes him back and pins him to the wall. Two hands up the wall and a knee to his groin has Vincent defenseless and in Diedrich's mercy. Diedrich starts to show his 'mercy' by jerking his knees, making Vincent moan then shudder. Diedrich roughly grabs Vincent's chin and pulls it up so he'd lock eyes with him. "If we're going to do it, don't leave my mouth watering."_

"_Ha! I highly doubt you'd be hungry when you've already pinned my hands." Diedrich doesn't laugh. He presses himself against Vincent's need straining against his slacks and grinds it continuously. A breathy moan escapes Vincent's lips and has him digging his nails onto his palms. "Of course I'd never let your mouth water, __**darling**__. It's not something a good lover would do."_

"_Then show me." He releases Vincent's hands. They fall onto Diedrich's back. One of them snakes over to the back of his head. The other clutches the dress shirt as though to hold him in place._

"_With pleasure." _

_Vincent's nails suddenly dig into Diedrich's skin, causing him to wince. "But if you ever cheat on me," Vincent whispers. "Only God knows what I can do to you."_

* * *

Another swig of the bottle pushes Diedrich closer to being put out like a light. Rainy days and heartbreaks just don't add up to something less than mundane in anybody's story.

In the heart of the city, there's this little busy restaurant-slash-bar. Office workers, salary men, and other busy bodies taking breaks from working hard take time to pour beers from their bottles and laugh at their troubles in that bar despite it being another busy day that rain took chance in.

Many stories take place in that bar, and in this particular story, the dark-haired, brown-eyed Diedrich tries to forget his current story with another swig of the beer they ordered from the bar.

'_Shit… Now that __**she**__'s gone, __**he**__'d have a new reason to call me back._' He stares at the bottle in his hands. A soft curse passes from his lips. "Shit!" '_This 15-year long hoax is dragging me by the neck for far too long!_' He takes another swig of the bottle. '_Why'd she have to go? Why'd she have to break up with me after I've given her almost all that I have?_'

So, he downs the bottle in his hands and asks the waitress for another round. '_If Vincent finds out that she and I are through- NO! Wait! Agh! Shit! He doesn't even __**know**__ that I had another relationship! If he finds out about this one… _'

He stares at the empty bottle in his hands. '_…God knows what punishment he has for having her arms around me._'

"Hey there, Diedrich, you're downing the bottle pretty hard tonight!" A firm grip on his shoulders sends Diedrich shooting up from his seat, his sleepiness practically shaken off of him. "Whoa-! Ah! Bard~! Pssh! Nah! I'm not asleep! It's just resting my eyes."

A look of concern washes over Bard's face.

It's the wordless thoughts that get people most of the time.

And Diedrich tries to ignore the obvious thought by hiding into his hands.

"Now, now, Bard, poor Diedrich here's had enough guilt to bear today." The pats on Diedrich's back do nothing to move Diedrich away from his hands. "Being late in passing his manuscript is one and enough." Bard doesn't say a word. His eyes focus only on Diedrich. "But, Klaus," he tries to send out in a whisper to their older companion, "you know Diedrich isn't the champion heavyweight he is with wine when it comes to beers. And he still has to drive home tonight."

"I can hear you, Bard," Diedrich mumbles through his hands. "I'm not drunk! I'm just," he pauses for a moment. Bard sees something gloss over his eyes. "… A little too fatigued."

Klaus continues to rub Diedrich's back. "If driving's a problem, we can always send him home in a cab and deal with the car later." Klaus settles his head onto his hand after stopping the back-rubbing. "But Bard's right, you know. It's time for you to take it easy and sit out from drinking more tonight."

"It's bad for the mind," Klaus taps lightly on Diedrich's forehead, "and bad for the heart, my boy!" He flashes a little smile at him as he gently takes Diedrich's bottle away from his hands.

"N-no! Don't mind me, Klaus!" Diedrich grips firmly on to the bottle in his hands. "It's not like I do this all the time! I just want to live a little-"

"By drowning in the bottle in your hands?" Klaus takes it away from his hands, deliberately. "No can do! You'll just end up dead asleep, and a burden to our hands."

They both laugh for a moment, and then Diedrich takes the bottle back. "Then I won't drown. I'll just take a little dip." Before Bard and Klaus could say anything, Diedrich takes a swig then releases it with an "Ah!" Between the two surprised men, Bard's the one who seemed like he was shocked out of his shell.

"Sorry, Bard."

Bard looks at the older gentleman. "I've already taken it out of his hands." Klaus gives a little shrug then takes a sip of his own drink. Bard emits a sigh. The tension between his brows is starting to take over his head. "Diedrich, you really need to…"

Just before Bard can start nagging Diedrich's bottle out of Diedrich's hands, Diedrich stares far off and drowns into the space. Laughter, bottle-clinking and abundant amounts of chatter colour his hazy vision of the scenery.

But his hazy vision starts trying to clear when a familiar shade of black enters the scene.

"…So, Diedrich, I- DIEDRICH?!" Bard's bottle-grabbing speech ends to a halt when Diedrich starts charging towards a dark-haired lady and her two-tone haired male companion.

"Beast, how could you do this to me?!" He grips on the raven's wrist, causing her to wince. "Vi-Diedrich! Diedrich, let go of me! It's hurting me!" A pair of hands tries to pry them apart.

Her two-tone haired companion gets in the middle of them, his eyes sharp with the intent of never letting Diedrich near her once more.

"What's the big idea trying to hurt my girlfriend, Bob?"

The words spur Diedrich to hurl towards the guy but couldn't get an inch nearer to him since Bard and Klaus stood to set the guy away from Diedrich. Klaus tries to ease Diedrich by gripping firmly onto one of his arms. "Your girlfriend? Your girlfriend!"

Beast shivers when Diedrich's gaze sets on her, his eyes feral and ready to attack. "What the bloody hell, Beast? You go back to being this guy's bitch when you haven't finished the deal with me?"

"Just who the fuck are you calling a bitch, mother-!" Before Beast's boyfriend could launch into an attack, Bard completely blocks him off. Beast latches on to her boyfriend's arm. "Dagger, please. Don't make this into an even bigger scene. We're taking our leave."

"But, Beast-" _"We're leaving," _Beast's eyes say. Beast's glance shifts from the sedating Dagger to Diedrich who still looked like he was on the heels of an attack.

"Diedrich, please stop it. You're making a great fool of yourself."

At the beck of Beast's words, Diedrich freezes. "Oh dear. Oh dear." Beast sashays over to Diedrich's side.

"You seem too drunk to remember we agreed on this, Diedrich. The deal's done. We're done. When it's over, it's over, so there's nothing else you should mull over by yourself," she says with a soft smile on her face. Diedrich looks at her eyes. He turns as limp, compliant, as the soft look her eyes give.

Everyone in the bar stops, Bard, Klaus and especially Diedrich, and stares at Beast for the miracle she has made to happen. Diedrich, the man who played completely on the offense, looks completely and utterly defenseless just by her look and her words.

Beast's gentle touch on Bard's arm makes him quiver and quake, setting Dagger free of his grasp.

"I hope you understand, Diedrich. If not, try to understand."

She lightly tugs at Dagger and sends the both of them on their way, out of the scene. "Goodbye, Diedrich," she says without turning her back. The image of their backs disappears into the darkness beyond the restaurant's door.

Everyone was silent, and then later an air of great awkwardness settles on them. The patrons try to get the mood back to full swing.

Klaus makes a low soft whistle. "Now, that's some stone-hard beauty you got there, Diedrich," he says, his voice low. It seemed more of a thought than a compliment to Diedrich. "She could've added my heart to the list of the boys she's kept keeling if I was your age."

"Tsk! That woman just slipped out right in front of me!" Diedrich shrugs off Klaus and shoves away Bard. "Let's just see if she doesn't understand what she just did to me!" he mumbles beneath his breath.

The restaurant patrons watch in stupor as Diedrich makes his way through the crowd.

Bard's still dumbfounded and Klaus just got out from his shock over the situation they found themselves in.

"Oh, shit! Diedrich, don't-!"

Before they could've stopped him, the bell on the door dings as though signaling Diedrich's flight in to the night's darkness.

* * *

The penthouse is filled with the howls of the wind against the windows.

Vincent flips a page in his book then flicks on the lamp by his side. Soft purring causes him to tear his eyes away from the page. He takes a glance at the mass of black fur that encircles his feet and pads to the side of his chair. Vincent goes back to reading the page.

"Lay your claim, Sebastian," he says without tearing his eye off the page. At the fall of his words, Sebastian springs onto his lap and curls into a ball. Vincent doesn't flinch, though. He flips to the next page and to the next till the wind blows onto the glass door of the balcony and the sound of rain hitting the sliding glass door echoes through the entirety of the penthouse.

Vincent breaks his sight of the page and marks the page with his thumb. He looks outside of the glass door. Cumulonimbus clouds loom over the sky like a great mystery, slowly but surely taking over everything.

Vincent eyes the sky for a while. He watches it make its way. He watches the rain start to pour. He imagines the people cursing the 'sudden' change of weather. He goes back to the page he marked with his thumb.

"Looks like God's punishment awaits."

_\- **To Be Continued** -_

_Yehey! This is my first time to dabble into something like this! Ahahaha! I want to cry. Read and Review :D Thank you :D_


	2. Raining on days less than mundane

_**Title:**__ Comfort  
__**Author:**__ oneforfall  
__**Fandom:**__ Kuroshitsuji  
__**Pairing:**__ Diedrich x Vincent Phantomhive  
__**Disclaimer: **__  
By law, I have no right to claim these characters as mine, nor do I have the right to claim their story. Characters are owned by __**Yana Toboso.**__  
__**Author's note:  
**__Oh my god. After 85 excruciating years, I'm back. Art college is juicing my soul out of me! But, now, I'm back! And, in a few weeks, this story will celebrate its first birthday (I wrote it around December)! Yey!_

_In celebration of its almost 1 year, I'll be posting not 1, __**but 2 chapters! **_

_**When I first wrote this story, I didn't expect Yana to turn Diedrich into a ball of awesome. Diedrich here is still as skinny as before.**_

**Comfort  
-chapter 2-  
**(oneforfall)

Another swig of the bottle pushes Diedrich closer to being put out like a light. Rainy days and heartbreaks just don't add up to something less than mundane in anybody's story.

In the heart of the city, there's this little busy restaurant-slash-bar. Office workers, salary men, and other busy bodies taking breaks from working hard take time to pour beers from their bottles and laugh at their troubles in that bar despite it being another busy day that rain took chance in.

Many stories take place in that bar, and in this particular story, the dark-haired, brown-eyedDiedrich tries to forget his current story with another swig of the beer they ordered from the bar.

"Hey there, Diedrich, you're downing the bottle pretty hard tonight!" A firm grip on his shoulders sends Diedrich shooting up from his seat, his sleepiness practically shaken off of him. "Whoa-! Ah! Bard~! Pssh! Nah! I'm not asleep! It's just resting my eyes."

A look of concern washes over Bard's face.

It's the wordless thoughts that get people most of the time.

And Diedrich tries to ignore the obvious thought by hiding into his hands.

"Now, now, Bard, poor Diedrich here's had enough guilt to bear today." The pats on Diedrich's back do nothing to move Diedrich away from his hands. "Being late in passing his manuscript is one and enough." Bard doesn't say a word. His eyes focus only on Diedrich. "But, Klaus," he tries to send out in a whisper to their older companion, "you know Diedrich isn't the champion heavyweight he is with wine when it comes to beers. And he still has to drive home tonight."

"I can hear you, Bard," Diedrich mumbles through his hands. "I'm not drunk! I'm just," he pauses for a moment. Bard sees something gloss over his eyes. "… A little too fatigued."

Klaus continues to rub Diedrich's back. "If driving's a problem, we can always send him home in a cab and deal with the car later." Klaus settles his head onto his hand after stopping the back-rubbing. "But Bard's right, you know. It's time for you to take it easy and sit out from drinking more tonight."

"It's bad for the mind," Klaus taps lightly on Diedrich's forehead, "and bad for the heart, my boy!" He flashes a little smile at him as he gently takes Diedrich's bottle away from his hands.

"N-no! Don't mind me, Klaus!" Diedrich grips firmly on to the bottle in his hands. "It's not like I do this all the time! I just want to live a little-"

"By drowning in the bottle in your hands?" Klaus takes it away from his hands, deliberately. "No can do! You'll just end up dead asleep, and a burden to our hands."

They both laugh for a moment, and then Diedrich takes the bottle back. "Then I won't drown. I'll just take a little dip." Before Bard and Klaus could say anything,Diedrich takes a swig then releases it with an "Ah!" Between the two surprised men, Bard's the one who seemed like he was shocked out of his shell.

"Sorry, Bard."

Bard looks at the older gentleman. "I've already taken it out of his hands." Klaus gives a little shrug then takes a sip of his own drink. Bard emits a sigh. The tension between his brows is starting to take over his head. "Diedrich, you really need to…"

Just before Bard can start nagging Diedrich's bottle out of Diedrich's hands, Diedrich stares far off and drowns into the space. Laughter, bottle-clinking and abundant amounts of chatter colour his hazy vision of the scenery.

But his hazy vision starts trying to clear when a familiar shade of black enters the scene.

"…So, Diedrich, I- DIEDRICH?!" Bard's bottle-grabbing speech ends to a halt when Diedrichstarts charging towards a dark-haired lady and her two-tone haired male companion.

"Beast, how could you do this to me?!" He grips on the raven's wrist, causing her to wince. "Vi-Diedrich! Diedrich, let go of me! It's hurting me!" A pair of hands tries to pry them apart.

Her two-tone haired companion gets in the middle of them, his eyes sharp with the intent of never letting Diedrich near her once more.

"What's the big idea trying to hurt my girlfriend, Bob?"

The words spur Diedrich to hurl towards the guy but couldn't get an inch nearer to him since Bard and Klaus stood to set the guy away from Diedrich. Klaus tries to ease Diedrich by gripping firmly onto one of his arms. "Your girlfriend? Your girlfriend!"

Beast shivers when Diedrich's gaze sets on her, his eyes feral and ready to attack. "What the bloody hell, Beast? You go back to back to being this guy's bitch when you haven't finished the deal with me?"

"Just who the fuck are you calling a bitch, mother-!" Before Beast's boyfriend could launch into an attack, Bard completely blocks him off. Beast latches on to her boyfriend's arm. "Dagger, please. Don't make this into an even bigger scene. We're taking our leave."

"But, Beast-" _"We're leaving,"_Beast's eyes say. Beast's glance shifts from the sedating Dagger to Diedrich who still looked like he was on the heels of an attack.

"Diedrich, please stop it. You're making a great fool of yourself."

At the beck of Beast's words, Diedrich freezes. "Oh dear. Oh dear." Beastsashay over to Diedrich's side.

"You seem too drunk to remember we agreed on this, Diedrich. The deal's done. We're done. When it's over, it's over, so there's nothing else you should mull over by yourself," she says with a soft smile on her face. Diedrich looks at her eyes. He turns as limp, compliant, as the soft look her eyes give.

Everyone in the bar stops, Bard, Klaus and especially Diedrich, and stares at Beast for the miracle she has made to happen. Diedrich, the man who played completely on the offense, looks completely and utterly defenseless just by her look and her words.

Beast's gentle touch on Bard's arm makes him quiver and quake, setting Dagger free of his grasp.

"I hope you understand, Diedrich. If not, try to understand."

She lightly tugs at Dagger and sends the both of them on their way, out of the scene. "Goodbye, Diedrich," she says without turning her back. The image of their backs disappears into the darkness beyond the restaurant's door.

Everyone was silent, and then later an air of great awkwardness settles on them. The patrons try to get the mood back to full swing.

Klaus makes a low soft whistle. "Now, that's some stone-hard beauty you got there, Diedrich," he says, his voice low. It seemed more of a thought than a compliment to Diedrich. "She could've added my heart to the list of the boys she's kept keeling if I was your age."

"Tsk! That woman just slipped out right in front of me!" Diedrich shrugs off Klaus and shoves away Bard. "Let's just see if she doesn't understand what she just did to me!" he mumbles beneath his breath.

The restaurant patrons watch in stupor as Diedrich made his way through the crowd.

Bard's still dumbfounded and Klaus just got out from his shock over the situation they found themselves in.

"Oh, shit! Diedrich, don't-!"

Before they could've stopped him, the bell on the door dings as though signalling Diedrich's flight in to the night's darkness.

_Author's note: What does the darkness bring for Diedrich?_

_Read and Review, please! Constructive criticism is most welcome! Shout out to this story's first follower, __**BlackCatAnimeGirl.**__ People like you who inspire authors like me are truly amazing!_


	3. Visions entering the darkness

_**Title:**__ Comfort  
__**Author:**__ oneforfall  
__**Fandom:**__ Kuroshitsuji  
__**Pairing:**__ Diedrich x Vincent Phantomhive  
__**Disclaimer: **__  
By law, I have no right to claim these characters as mine, nor do I have the right to claim their story. Characters are owned by __**Yana Toboso.**__  
__**Author's note:  
**__Oh my god. After 85 excruciating years, I'm back. Art college is juicing my soul out of me! But, now, I'm back! And, in a few weeks, this story will celebrate its first birthday (I wrote it around December)! Yey!_

_In celebration of its almost 1 year, I'll be posting not 1, __**but 2 chapters! **_

_**When I first wrote this story, I didn't expect Yana to turn Diedrich into a ball of awesome. Diedrich here is still as skinny as before.**_

**Comfort  
-chapter 3-  
**(by oneforfall)

**DIEDRICH (A P.O.V.)**

"_Diedrich! Hey, Diedrich! Stay awake! Stay with me!"_

Voices. There are voices? There are voices inside my head. They sound rather fuzzy.

"_Klaus, should we call an ambulance or something?_" Hands. There're hands on me. Are they hands? Even hands seem fuzzy.

'_Ambulance. Ambulance? Why on earth do you need an ambulance?'_

"_Don't just say it! Do it, you drunk-out blond!_"

What on earth is happening exactly?

"_I'm so sorry, Diedrich. They got away before we could stop them._"

Klaus. This must be Klaus talking. '_Who couldn't you stop, Klaus? What did they do? What did they do?_'

What did they do, Klaus?

"W-er-t di- the- ur?" God, it hurts to talk with my mouth. Wait. My mouth. I can't even move my mouth!

"But you'll be fine, Diedrich. We promise you'll be fine. Beast's boyfriend may have caused you some swelling and some stitches but you'll be all right."

'_Beast's boyfriend?_'Beast's boyfriend. '_Beast had a boyfriend? Wait! It's that two-tone haired punk who shamed me!_'

I feel my heart race. It's coming back to me. That multi-coloured clown, the restaurant, and the image of Beast as she slipped out are memories that come rushing back to me, making my blood prickle beneath my skin.

'_Shamed me… Wait, shaming me isn't supposed to hurt my eye. What did they…?'_

It all came to me back to me.

"_What the heck is you problem, ya drunk? Didn't she make it clear?_"

The words echo through my head.

'_She made it clear. She made it clear. Then there was the sound of knocked over garbage bins. Before I knew it…_

_Beast's boyfriend cuts through my face with a pocketknife._'

The memory sends adrenaline rushing to my veins. I struggle to take in the current scene. The alcohol takes the adrenaline to a whole new level in my body. Everything is clear and yet it's blurry. My senses are practically screaming with the overload of stimuli around me.

"Kaaaaaus…" The heightened sensitivity towards everything around me sends me off into a crying fit of screams. "Kaaaaus!" The screams turn more hysterical by the bellow.

"Diedrich! Diedrich! Calm down! The ambulance is on the way! " '_I can't move, Klaus! I can't move my body!_'

"Try to stay sane, Diedrich! Try to stay sane!" '_No! No! There're hands! There're hands all around me! Klaus!_'

"KAAAAAAAAUS!"

There was a feeling too many hands all over me. The scent of my blood and the odour of the dark alley heighten my fears and anxiety. I couldn't move my mouth. My mouth drips with an irony fluid whenever I move my lips.

'_I was cut in the face! I was cut in the face! Somebody help me! Somebody help me!_'

"Bard! How long will the ambulance take? Diedrich's gone into hysteria! He needs it quick!"

"I don't know! They told me they'd come immediately!"  
"Did you even tell me where we are?"  
"Fuck, of course I did!"  
"Then go out into the street and signal them here!"

I could hear Bard's footsteps, his feet crushing the asphalt of the alleyway. Klaus keeps trying to sedate me but it's hard to sedate someone who's going through chemical-induced insanity.

"Bard! Bard, help! Diedrich's turning violent already!"  
"The ambulance is coming, Klaus! The ambulance is coming!"  
"Diedrich! Stop!" I feel Klaus' fingers digging into my skin. "Bardroy, help me!"

No sound nor sign of his presence comes. Bard is far off gone, trying to lead the ambulance to the scene in the alleyway.

"I guess I have no choice!" '_Choice? What choice is there, Klaus? I'm dying!_'

Before I could make another call of Klaus' name, a swift blow to my head sends my head crashing against the garbage tin.

The sound of the metal's resonance and blaring ambulance siren fill my ears.

I find myself later in the darkness, my eyes failing to see. Another moment's worth of panicking turned into a long dreamless sleep.

**POV end.**

"Set the dish to a simmer…" he reads aloud. The phone rings at queue as he sets the flame low to simmer. Sebastian sashays to the phone and sits patiently. Vincent still hasn't gone to the phone. Sebastian pads over to Vincent and calls him by rubbing at his leg.

Vincent continues to wash the vegetables. "Alright, Sebastian. I'll see to get to it." The cat continues to rub against him. Vincent turns off the tap, dries off his hands and follows the cat to the ringing phone.

"Hello. Good evening," he starts off. Sebastian purrs at the sound of his voice. Sebastian sits quietly at the corner by the telephone, his eyes glowing like embers and his tail sweeping through the floor carpeting.

[_Yes. Hello? Good Evening._] Vincent's brow quirks at the sound in the background. PA systems and rambling voices reach his ear. '_Quite a noisy set up we have here, don't we, Mr Speaker?_'

[_This is Diedrich's co-worker, Bardroy, speaking. Is Vincent Phantomhive home?_] Vincent's brows raise, but there was no change in his face's façade. "This is him speaking. Is there something the matter, Mr Bardroy?"

[_Well, yes. There's been some trouble with Diedrich, you see. He's been quite a handful this evening._] At this, Vincent rolls his eyes. '_Not only is he a handful here at home, he also brings the trouble to the office. We might as well punish him later when he gets home already._' The word rings in his head. Punish. A ghost of a smile settles on his lips.

'_Huhuh. What a delightful thing to think about in the evening._' A coy smile plays on his face. Sebastian leans over and rubs against Vincent's leg, jolting him back in to reality and sending him away from his fantasies.

[_Diedrich is currently at the hospital getting stitches as we speak._] '_Wait. What?_'

"Um, excuse me, Mr Bardroy. Could you kindly repeat that for me? I'm in a bit of shock, you see, and it's hard to get through it thinking clearly." The coyness of Vincent's voice overflows so much that it sends Sebastian purring. Bardroy stutters for a while. Vincent hears him take a deep breath for composure and waits for him to repeat.

[_Diedrich was wounded in a knife fight and is now in the hospital getting stitches. As much as he didn't want this call to happen, it's for the best, for his safety. Please come over and see to him immediately._]

Vincent falls silent. Sebastian looks up to see Vincent staring blankly into space. Bard continues to wait for a response to each of his 'Hello's. A moment or two of silence passes and Vincent comes back to life. He takes a look at the phone number flashing on the screen and notes it on a sheet.

"Yes, Mr Bardroy. I understand. Tell Diedrich I'll be coming." He brings out the phone in his pocket, enters the number and gets the details he looks for. "Don't be afraid to tell him I'm coming. If ever he asks why it happened, tell him his _darling _kept on calling."

Before Bardroy could say anything else, Vincent hangs up. Sebastian watches Vincent go over to the kitchen and follow him to the bedroom on the second floor but gets locked out after the door closes on his face.

Vincent emerges from the bedroom dressed in different attire. Sebastian trails behind him as they descend the stairs while Vincent was calling for a cab. Vincent comes up to the door way and slips on his shoes.

"It's quite sad, isn't it?"  
The cat purrs in response.  
"We've already gotten used to this kind of trouble frequently coming into our lives that it's got me rather relaxed whenever the phone rings." He takes one last look at himself through the reflection of his smartphone then looks at the cat behind him.

"Watch over the house from me. Make sure no rats think of ever coming into this house when I'm not around."

Sebastian purrs in response. Vincent opens the door and leaves. Sebastian's sashays back into the living room, purring.

_To be continued!_


End file.
